I sinned, so you might do it too…
Ok! So before you read anything, put down any pitchfork you may have reached just by reading the title. Today we’re diving into a “touchy” subject. For the ones who are still paralyzed or too scared to read just one more word. Don’t worry, if I did it, you can do it too. Stay focused, breathe, one step at a time.
Yes, I confess! I did install a freewheel and some brakes on the Mash work! Am I banned from fixed gear heaven? I hope not. Do I now feel the urge to have eleven more gears and a very stylish pair of sunglasses? Not really. So why do it in the first place? What led me to this sin-gle speed? (See what I did there?)
Let’s rewind a bit shall we? Many of you know by now if you listen to the podcast, I moved! From Paris to the beautiful coasts in the South-West of France. And to be completely honest, I did not immediately think about the geography of the place. So after a few rides around, the verdict was set: It’s hilly out there, rides are cool but commutes are a pain. Not crazy like living in a mountain range, but enough for me to think about a more enjoyable solution for my day-to-day grocery-getting.
But there is something else! The area around my new place is FILLED with little single tracks and dirt roads. Very cool indeed and could make for a sick tracklocross adventure, but again, it’s so hilly and narrow, it’s hardly enjoyable on a brakeless setup.
What’s the solution then? Well, you could say the Mash Work is always the solution and you’ll be right! A Cantilever setup, some knobbies, a freewheel, and I was ready to shred CX style.
But before I give you the impression of a track bike die-hard building his first single speed, let me take you through the build.
It’s again my Mash Work. (Ever heard about it? Click here!) I needed something cheap, able to take me anywhere, and easily removable. I pretty much already had everything I needed. So after some research online, I found an entire cantilever setup of forty euros, and I was set to start this “transformation”. The freewheel was on a bike I bought a while ago, the tires are the ones I used during my last trip in Spain, and the handlebar, well you know about it now. I also had to get a front and rear “centering device” to make my brake setup work properly..
I could have gone for v-brakes, cheaper, easier to set up, maintain, and not dependent on a centered cable. But cantis are just cooler and better looking to me. But again, setting those took me up hours, especially with that removable canti-plots design from Cinelli. They just never align properly.
The freewheel I had laying around was an 18T so I thought I wouldn't be a big gap from my usual 17T cog. But I quickly learned that you don’t have that extra inertia when you ride a free gear, so lowering your ratio a bunch is probably a better idea.
I tried the bikes in three different scenarios. Doing some everyday commuting, some longer road rides, and finally a gravel/cx day with some new friends I made. Commuting is fine and just more relaxed in general. The ability to let you glide down the hills is somewhat phenomenal for someone who never owned a road bike, but that’s pretty much it.
Last weekend my local bike-cafe (@veloff) organized a 50km social ride with an easy map and only 400 meters of elevation gain. Again, the extra force I was pulling into those hills was more or less easily recoverable by just letting myself cruise on the way down. I was happy with the setup I had and the general feeling I developed. The fact that you don't always have to think about what’s gonna happen in the next 500 meters makes for a more “chill out” experience.
Finally, I went for a gravel ride last Sunday with some of the @salesgosses organizers, and this is where I kinda understood the limits. First thing I’ll do for the next ride, is swap that 49 chainring for something like a 43. Some of the gravel/singletrack hills would definitely have been doable with a lower gear ratio, as well as some slippery/sandy parts of the ride. But what struck me the most, was just the staggering superiority of disc braking. It’s not like I never tried hydraulic discs. You can, in fact, read an article in which I equip an Omnium CXC with some. Yet in some gravel/ muddy situations, I was in desperate need of more braking power. I still haven't tried everything tho, I need to change those pads to see if I can stop more efficiently but I wouldn’t count too much on that.
So what do we get from all this?
A Single speed is fun!
It’s a different way of riding and it’ll never replace a track bike for me, and probably wouldn't have looked into it if I wasn’t in a crazy hilly area.
If it’s something you haven’t tried and you just want something chill to glide down the hills with the coffee you just picked up, then you should maybe give it a go. Finding a cheap freewheel and threading them on basically any fixed hub is a small investment for a totally new experience.
So now that I sinned, I guess it’s ok for you to do it too…
